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    Lawrence Kasdan And J.J. Abrams Are Now Writing The Script For Episode VII

    October 24, 2013
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    Some surprising news has been announced today, as StarWars.com has just announced that Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams have taken over screenwriting duties for Episode VII from Michael Arndt. Here is the official announcement from Lucasfilm, which also reveals the names of some of the production crew working on Episode VII:

    [blockquote cite=””]

    As Episode VII continues pre-production, Lawrence Kasdan and director J.J. Abrams have assumed screenwriting duties for the film. Kasdan, who has been serving as a consultant on the film, is a veteran of several classic Lucasfilm productions, writing the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark and serving as co-screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Acclaimed director and screenwriter Abrams’ credits include Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Fringe, and Lost.

    “I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script,” states Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”

    Location scouting, production design, casting, and costume design are already underway on Episode VII. A team of gifted artists are working to bring the latest installment of the Star Wars saga, including director of photography Dan Mindel (Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness), production designers Rick Carter (Lincoln, Avatar, Forrest Gump) and Darren Gilford (Oblivion, TRON: Legacy), costume designer Michael Kaplan (Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Fight Club),special effects supervisor Chris Corbould (Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception), sound designer Ben Burtt (Lincoln, Wall-E, Star Wars: Episodes I-VI), re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible -Ghost Protocol), supervising sound editor Matthew Wood (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Master, There Will Be Blood) of Skywalker Sound, and visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett (Star Trek Into Darkness, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith) of Industrial Light & Magic. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, with Tommy Harper (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds) serving as executive producers. John Williams is returning to score Star Wars: Episode VII.

    Shooting is scheduled to begin Spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios for an expected 2015 release.
    [/blockquote]

    While it’s great to hear that Kasdan and Abrams will now be involved with the Episode VII script, it does make you wonder why they had to take over from Michael Arndt? It’s also interesting to note that the press release ended by stating shooting will begin in Spring 2014, and that it said “an expected 2015 release,” still not committing to a firm release date for that year. Maybe production on Episode VII has fallen behind the planned schedule a bit, but production is for sure moving forward for the new movie, but it looks like we’ll have to be a little more patient for certain details about the film to get announced.

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    Making of Star Wars Enhanced EBooks Now Available

    October 22, 2013
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    Today see’s the release of J.W. Rinzler’s enhanced eBooks of all three Making of Star Wars books for the original trilogy. While fans who already purchased the physical copies of all three books might not be inclined to get the eBook versions, there is actually quite a lot of cool new special features included in these enhanced editions that may warrant getting these eBooks. Here is all the info from Lucasfilm on what’s included in the special eBook editions for each movie, such as rare never before seen behind the scenes videos, and new audio interviews.

    [blockquote cite=””]

    MAKING OF STAR WARS e-book cover

    THE MAKING OF STAR WARS (Enhanced Edition)

    by J.W. Rinzler

    Del Rey/LucasBooks

    $17.99

    On sale October, 2013

    This enhanced eBook transforms The Making of Star Wars into an immersive multimedia experience worthy of the original film, featuring bonus content such as never-before-seen photos and behind-the scenes video.*

    After the 1973 success of American Graffiti, filmmaker George Lucas made the fateful decision to pursue a longtime dream project: a space fantasy movie unlike any ever produced. Lucas envisioned a swashbuckling SF saga inspired by the Flash Gordon serials, classic American westerns, the epic cinema of Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa, and mythological heroes. Its original title: The Star Wars. The rest is history, and how it was made is a story as entertaining and exciting as the movie that has enthralled millions for more than thirty years—a story that has never been told as it was meant to be. Until now.

    Using his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its trove of “lost” interviews, photos, production notes, factoids, and anecdotes, Star Wars scholar J. W. Rinzler hurtles readers back in time for a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes look at the nearly decade-long quest of George Lucas and his key collaborators to make the “little” movie that became a phenomenon. It’s all here:

    • the evolution of the now-classic story and characters—including “Annikin Starkiller” and “a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and large gills” named Han Solo
    • excerpts from George Lucas’s numerous, ever-morphing script drafts
    • the birth of Industrial Light & Magic, the special-effects company that revolutionized Hollywood filmmaking
    • the studio-hopping and budget battles that nearly scuttled the entire project
    • the director’s early casting saga, which might have led to a film spoken mostly in Japanese—including the intensive auditions that won the cast members their roles and made them legends
    • the grueling, nearly catastrophic location shoot in Tunisia and the subsequent breakneck dash at Elstree Studios in London
    • the who’s who of young film rebels who pitched in to help—including Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and Brian DePalma

    But perhaps most exciting, and rarest of all, are the interviews conducted before and during production and immediately after the release of Star Wars—in which George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Sir Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, composer John Williams, effects masters Dennis Muren, Richard Edlund, and John Dykstra, Phil Tippett, Rick Baker, legendary production designer John Barry, and a host of others share their fascinating tales from the trenches and candid opinions of the film that would ultimately change their lives.

    No matter how you view the spectrum of this phenomenon, The Making of Star Wars stands as a crucial document—rich in fascination and revelation—of a genuine cinematic and cultural touchstone.

    *Video may not play on all readers. Please check your user manual for details.

    MAKING OF STAR WARS ESB e-book cover

    THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Enhanced Edition)
    by J.W. Rinzler
    Foreword by Ridley Scott
    Del Rey/LucasBooks
    $17.99
    On sale October, 2013

    This enhanced eBook transforms The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back into an immersive multimedia experience worthy of the beloved film, featuring bonus content such as never-before-seen photos and behind-the scenes video.*

    In this lavish thirtieth-anniversary tribute to the blockbuster film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, New York Times bestselling author J. W. Rinzler draws back the curtain to reveal the intense drama and magnificent wizardry behind the hit movie—arguably the fan favorite of the Star Wars Saga.

    Following his The Making of Star Wars, the author has once again made use of his unlimited access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its hidden treasures of interviews, photos, artwork, and production mementos. The result is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes, up-close-and-personal look at the trials and triumphs, risks and close calls, inspiration, perspiration, and imagination that went into every facet of this cinematic masterpiece. Here’s the inside scoop on:

    • the evolution of the script, from story conference and treatment to fifth draft, as conceived, written, and rewritten by George Lucas, famed science-fiction author Leigh Brackett, and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan
    • the development of new key characters, including roguish hero Lando Calrissian, sinister bounty hunter Boba Fett, and iconic Jedi Master Yoda
    • the challenges of shooting the epic ice planet battle in the frozen reaches of Norway and of conjuring up convincing creatures and craft—from tauntauns and snowspeeders to Imperial walkers
    • the construction of a life-sized Millennium Falcon and the swamp planet Dagobah inside a specially built soundstage in Elstree Studios
    • the technique behind master Muppeteer Frank Oz’s breathing life into the breakthrough character Yoda
    • the creation of the new, improved Industrial Light & Magic visual effects facility and the founding of the now-legendary Skywalker Ranch

    In addition, of course, are rare on-the-scene interviews with all the major players: actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and David Prowse; director Irvin Kershner; producer Gary Kurtz; effects specialists Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett; composer John Williams; and many others. Punctuating the epic account is a bounty of drawings, storyboards, and paintings by Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, and Ivor Beddoes, along with classic and rare production photos. An added bonus is a Foreword by acclaimed director Ridley Scott.

    The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a fittingly glorious celebration of an undisputed space-fantasy movie milestone. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

    *Video may not play on all readers. Please check your user manual for details.

    MAKING OF STAR WARS ROTJ e-book cover

    THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI (Enhanced Edition)
    by J.W. Rinzler
    Foreword by Brad Bird
    Del Rey/LucasBooks
    $17.99
    On sale October, 2013

    This enhanced eBook transforms The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi into an immersive multimedia experience worthy of the legendary film, featuring bonus content such as never-before-seen photos and behind-the scenes video.*

    Just as Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi completed the most successful cinematic trilogy of its generation, perhaps of all time, this splendid thirtieth-anniversary tribute completes New York Times bestselling author J. W. Rinzler’s trio of fascinating behind-the-scenes books celebrating George Lucas’s classic films.

    Once again, the author’s unprecedented access to the formidable Lucasfilm Archives has yielded a mother lode of extremely informative, vastly entertaining, and often unexpected stories, anecdotes, recollections, and revelations straight from the closely guarded set of a big-screen blockbuster in the making. Brimming with previously unpublished photos, production artwork, script excerpts, exclusive intel, vintage on-set interviews, and present-day commentary, The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi chronicles “how George Lucas and his crew of extroverted artists, misfits, and expert craftspeople roused themselves to great heights for a third time” to create the next unforgettable chapter in one of the most beloved sagas of all time. Get up close to the action and feel like a studio insider as

    • creator George Lucas, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and director Richard Marquand huddle in a script conference to debate the destinies of iconic Star Wars characters, as well as plot twists and turns for the epic final showdown between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire
    • artists and craftspeople at the groundbreaking Industrial Light & Magic facility top their own revolutionary innovations—despite the infamous Black Friday—with boundary-pushing new analog visual effects
    • a crack team of sculptors, puppeteers, actors, and “monster-makers” bring Jabba the Hutt and his cohorts to startling, slobbering life from the inside out
    • a who’s who of heavyweight directors—from such films as Superman, Gremlins, Halloween, Dune, Scanners, and Time Bandits—are considered for the coveted job of bringing a new Star Wars adventure to the silver screen
    • actors and crew race to the finish line at Elstree Studios, in a fiery desert, and beneath the trees of a dense redwood forest—before money runs out—to answer the questions that audiences had waited three years to find out: Is Darth Vader really Luke’s father, who is the “other”—and who or what is the Emperor?

    Star Wars’ stars from both sides of the camera—including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Alec Guinness, director Richard Marquand, producer Howard Kazanjian, Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and mastermind George Lucas—weigh in with candid insights on everything from technical challenges, character design, Ewoks, the Empire’s galactic city planet, and the ultimate challenge of bringing the phenomenal space fantasy to a dramatic close. The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi gives a spectacular subject its just due, with more than five hundred images and many, many new interviews.

    *Video may not play on all readers. Please check your user manual for details.

    Each enhanced eBook will include all the text and art from the print editions plus bonus multimedia content featuring around 30 minutes of rare behind the scenes video, around 15-20 minutes of rare audio interviews, and additional art work and photos. The enhanced eBooks will be compatible with iPads (and iPad Minis), the Amazon Kindle app for Apple devices, Kindle Fire devices, Nook HD and Tablets, and the Google Play Books Reader for Android and Nexus devices. We also have to add this note whenever talking about the availability on platforms: Functionality of the audio/video content is subject to your eBook device. Check the store listing on your favorite eBook retailer site to find out whether your device is capable of playing audio and video elements. [/blockquote]

    These new new enhanced eBook editions sound great, with the cool added new features like never before seen behind the scene video footage added to already large sized books, getting each book for just 17.99 is a great deal. If you want to check out a nice breakdown of all the new added video footage, check the out the latest post at the official Star Wars Blog.

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    Darth Vader Themed TV Specials Coming?

    October 18, 2013
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    Jedi News is reporting a story where it looks like we may see a Darth Vader themed TV show in 2014. The story comes from a brochure that attendees of the European Brand Licensing Show received , which outlines Disney’s and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars plans for the next two years. Below is the report from Jedi News, as well as the image of the brochure with the details.

    [blockquote cite=””]This is a page from the Disney brochure given out to the attendees of the European Brand Licensing Show. This is the detailed current calendar plan from Disney for the Star Wars brand. Plenty of little bits of info that will stir much debate and discussion:

    Star Wars Mobile LEGO games following on from successful app releases of the Batman and Harry Potter platform ports. Coming in Spring / Summer 2014.
    A Star Wars Digital Library is to launch in Autumn / Winter 2014.
    Confirmation that the plan remains for Star Wars Episode VII to be released in the Spring / Summer of 2015.
    But perhaps the most surprising, exciting and fast approaching news is the release of “Darth Vader Themed TV Specials.”[/blockquote]

    CreateThumbNail.aspx

    Definitely some interesting information there, including the fact that Episode VII is still planed for a Spring/Summer 2015 release, but the big information is no doubt the Darth Vader Themed TV Specials planned for Spring /Summer 2014. Of course this has yet to be officially announced by Disney and Lucasfilm yet, so just exactly what ” Darth Vader Themed TV Specials” could be, remains to be to be seen. But until we hear an official announcement about this, we as Star Wars fans we’ll no doubt have a fun time trying to speculate the possibilities of what a Darth Vader TV Special can be about, and what we’d like to see from it!

    Be sure to check out the full story over at Jedi News.

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    Seth Green Gives An Updated On Star Wars Detours

    October 18, 2013
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    During New York Comic Con last weekend, Eric Goldman from IGN had the chance to talk to Seth Green about the status of Star Wars Detours right now, where Seth gives some more insight into the decision of postponing the show, the meeting he had with Kathleen Kennedy about it, and whether he thinks the show will eventually get released. You can check out the interview in the video below.

    It’s definitely good to hear that Seth Green is pretty confident that the finished 39 episodes they produced will get released eventually, but it looks like it wont be until after the sequel trilogy is wrapped up. We’ll keep you posted on any further updates on Star Wars Detours in the future.

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    Dave Filoni Looks Back on Season 5 Of The Clone Wars In A New Interview Series At StarWars.com

    October 16, 2013
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    With season 5 of The Clone Wars now released on Blu-Ray, the official StarWars.com blog is starting a new interview series with Dave Filoni, where he looks back at all the big events that happened this past season on The Clone Wars. The first part of this interview series was just recently posted, and here’s a small portion of that interview:

    [blockquote cite=]StarWars.com: I know that George Lucas was heavily involved in the story creation of the show. Is there anything this season that he gave specific instructions on?

    Dave Filoni: Not particularly. I mean, I would say that the origin of the idea, Darth Maul will face Darth Sidious, is a George idea. “I want them to fight.” When it comes down to the directing of where they’re going to fight, the staging of the fight, that’s all what I do and bring to the table. So we go over the broad story beats of something, and he just trusts myself and the writers and the rest of the team to really bring it to the screen. I think that freedom and trust from him is what in some ways makes this show. We’re challenging more boundaries and not reciting things so much. We’re developing more and experimenting more and I think the results are all part of that collaboration.

    StarWars.com: Is there anything, conversely, that he might have resisted that you had to push for?

    Dave Filoni: I don’t know about “resisted,” because when George doesn’t want something to happen, it’s probably not gonna happen. [Laughs] But there are several things this season… Bo-Katan, for instance, wasn’t a character that was pitched in a story meeting. She was a character that I created last season; she was just “Death Watch lieutenant” in the script, and I wanted to make a strong female Mandalorian character, so I just made her that character and then brought her back into this season. There were a lot of things that I’ve just learned from George over the years that I thought, “This would be a beneficial plot point.” Making Bo-Katan and Satine sisters was not in the original pitch, either. So there were a lot of things like that that we put into the stories that I hope made the stories stronger overall. I don’t know that they were ever hotly debated as much as they were ideas that came much later in the situation. The idea for Savage to revert back to his natural form, you just come up with that stuff on the fly. Everything that I [did] creatively is really based on the initial discussions that I have with George, and taking tons of notes and making visual drawing notes. If you look at the original drawings that I do in the room on the day, they’re very close to what ends up onscreen visually.[/blockquote]

    You can check out the full interview over at the official StarWars.com Blog, and stay tuned for part 2 of Dave Filoni looking back on season 5.

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    Dave Filoni Reflects On His Time Working On Clone Wars In A New Interview

    October 14, 2013
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    Eric Goldman from IGN recently had the chance to talk to Dave Filoni in a new lengthy interview, where Dave shares his thoughts on the eight years he’s worked on Clone Wars, working with George Lucas, the remaining “Bonus Content” episodes, a little bit of Star Wars Rebels, and some of the unanswered questions that are still  open for some Clone Wars characters. Here’s a portion of the interview:

    [blockquote cite=]IGN TV: Obviously, a ton of fans, myself included, are sad to be saying goodbye to The Clone Wars. For you, what’s it like looking back at it all, the 100+ episodes you created?

    Dave Filoni: It’s unbelievable. I don’t think about it a lot. It went by so quickly. George used to talk about making 100 episodes all the time, and we all kind of just thought, “Uh huh, well, I guess he can do that, but…” I always remember shows I worked on — I was on King of the Hill I believe when The Simpsons hit 100 episodes. So it was always something you thought of as, “Wow, that must be a good show to make it that far.” So I was really proud of everybody when we hit that. What I’m most proud of I think is if people begin with Season 1 and watch it all the way through, they see an improvement on every level. That’s not to take anything away from the people who worked in the beginning, but we had to start somewhere, and then we learned and learned and applied our knowledge going forward. We became dramatically better creators of these stories and executing these stories than we were in the beginning. I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud of. We didn’t just make it one way and continue to make that. Everything about the show got better, from the writing to the animation to the rendering, the way we filmed it. I think that that really shows when you watch it as a complete series.

    IGN TV: What were you conversations like with George when it came to an end? As you’ve mentioned, he’d been closely involved on the series and you guys had worked on it together for so many years.

    Dave Filoni: Oh, you know George. We talk about stuff. We still talk about Clone Wars, and he just loves that universe. I hope people realize that, just because technically he sold it, he created all of this. I’ve had lunch with him, and we’ve had nice talks about it and about Clone Wars. I know that he thinks very fondly of that time period of Clone Wars and working on it with us. We’re always talking about some of the stories that probably aren’t going to come to pass now and what they would have been like, and that’s a really fun time. When you’re creative, it’s fun to have those discussions. We joke about things that we did try and some things that we liked how they worked out. A lot of my conversations with him were just that I couldn’t believe, looking back on it all — when we started, in all honestly, we had so much to learn as a group. I was pretty good at what I did, but I wasn’t at the level I really needed to be to be the effective leader of this show and of the people making this show that I had to be to make it a success. When I started, George really took the time after seeing the first reel we did to say, “I’m going to teach this guy, and I’m going to make sure that we get this right.” He didn’t have to do that. He could have found somebody else, somebody more capable. It could have all been more automatic. But he took that time, and I took it all seriously. I listened, and I learned. Over the years, we got more and more success with it. I think that that’s something, that he really loved teaching. That was always clear to me. So we’ve talked about that, and I’m very appreciative of the time he spent with us directly to explain, when he didn’t like something, why, or why it didn’t work, and how they did things in the Star Wars films; what were the ways they did things, and editorially, how they filmed things that made a difference in his mind, that kept these things special — why you would say certain things in ways of dialogue and why you don’t. So it’s that mentor/apprentice relationship, which is really at the heart of Star Wars, when you think about it, that will always be probably the most important thing to me.

    IGN TV: So let me bring up the words “bonus content.” How, what, where, why, when?

    Dave Filoni: You know, I can’t say much about that yet. I am eagerly waiting, just like you. All I can say is, the stuff that — I think I can say this — what we’ve finished is spectacular, and I hate to bait you that way, but I’m so excited for people to see it. It really capitalizes on everything we learned in the first five seasons, the arc of continuing to improve our storytelling and just the nature of what’s in Star Wars is definitely seen in these episodes. In some ways, man, maybe it’s giving too much away, but it’s some important stuff for the overall idea of Clone Wars. We didn’t know at the time that, yeah, of course these would be “bonus material,” per se, but we were definitely doing these things because they were important to the overall 100 episodes of The Clone Wars. The thing that I think about it is, when it comes out — and I’m certain that it will at some time — it’s going to be probably a great moment now for fans because there just hasn’t been Clone Wars. So I think it’s going to have a really big impact, in my guess, just from talking to people. I’m really excited about it because some of the things in it are going to launch a lot of discussion in a great way I think for Star Wars. On the forefront of so much Star Wars content coming out, sometimes you step back and you almost think this stuff was planned — maybe it is, and I’m just not in on it. Who knows? I’m excited about it, I’m excited to talk about it, because there is much to discuss when you finally get to see these stories. I’ll definitely want to talk to you, Eric. We’ve got to go over it.[/blockquote]

    This is really a great interview that all Clone War fans should definitely check out, and you can check out the full interview over at IGN.

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    Dave Filoni Shares More Details About Star Wars Rebels In A New Interview

    October 13, 2013
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    Dave Filoni recently did an interview with the LA Times Hero Complex just before the New York Comic Con panel, where he shares some more details about what we can expect to see in Star Wars Rebels, as well as if it will tie in to The Clone Wars at all. Here is a portion of that interview.

    [blockquote cite=””]Hero Complex: Fans were really disappointed by the cancellation of “Clone Wars.” Will there be any wrapping up of storylines in “Rebels” or are you wiping the story slate clean?

    Dave Filoni: The good news is there are several episodes of “Clone Wars” the fans have yet to see. I’ve finalized the remaining episodes and I think they will really please the diehard “Clone Wars” fans, especially the story arc with Master Yoda — that one is critical to the bigger picture. “Star Wars Rebels” will be its own series with its own characters. That’s not to say characters from other “Star Wars” media couldn’t make an appearance in the series, but “Rebels” will be distinctive for its own new characters and relationships.

    Hero Complex: “Clone Wars” told a story on a very broad canvas with a large number of characters acting as the leads. Will that approach continue with “Rebels” or will there be a core group featured in every episode?

    Dave Filoni: “Rebels” will be different from “The Clone Wars” in a couple ways, and one is the decision to stick with one story and one main group of characters. We wanted fans to get to know the new characters and what they are fighting for. Each episode has its own unique story, while still fitting into the much larger picture of what is going on in the “Star Wars” universe. “Rebels” will tell the story of a group of characters, in this way it is more like the original trilogy which followed Han, Luke and Leia, where the prequels showed us the grand scale and political as well as personal.

    Hero Complex: Are you operating completely independently from the feature film group or is there some measure of coordination?

    Dave Filoni:There is a large effort at Lucasfilm to make all the stories we are creating relate to one another and find continuity with one another. It’s one of the really exciting developments in this new era.[/blockquote]

    To check out the full interview with Dave, as well as an exclusive new piece of concept art featuring a Star Destroyer and some TIE Fighters, head on over to Hero Complex.

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    Star Wars Rebels New York Comic Con Panel Recap

    October 12, 2013
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    After a great week of small Star Wars Rebels reveals such as the teaser, toy packaging, and propaganda art, today was the big event that they were all leading up to. The panel at the New York Comic Con, where a lot of cool new info about the series was revealed. Below is a recap of all the cool new info that was revealed about Star Wars Rebels, as well as quotes from Pablo Hidalgo from the panel:
    [blockquote cite=””]

    -A video message from Greg Weisman was played, where he said he was “bummed we couldn’t be out there with you.” They’re “really in the thick of it.”

    -Star Wars Rebels will take place 14 years after Revenge of the Sith.

    -“When the Empire first formed, the stability was actually a welcome change from the constantly warring and declining Republic. One of the principals of the Empire is expansion, and they did that by pushing out into the Outer Rim territories that the Republic never really got into.”

    -The planet Lothal, located in the outer rim will be a primary location in the show.

    -“The Empire doesn’t have the resources to invade every planet they want to annex.” It becomes pretty apparent, though, that the Empire doesn’t have the best interests of Lothal in mind.”

    -Stormtroopers will not be Clones in Rebels, but will be people who enlist in the Empire.

    -George Lucas said Clones “showed too much individuality to be of use to the Empire.”

    -Older Clones will serve as training sergeants to new recruits.

    -The blasters Storm Troopers use will have the bump that was on the original Kenner action figures

    -A new type of  Imperial Walker was revealed, the AT-DP, designed by Joe Johnson

    – A new type of pilot for the AT-DP was shown.

    -An Imperial Troop transport  was shown, based off of the old Kenner toy.

    -TIE-Fighters will have a larger ball cockpit and smaller wings than that in the films. Based off Ralph  McQuarrie’s original design.

    -The new villain The Inquisitor was revealed.(You can see more info on him here)

    -“If the Inquisitors are brought in, that means the Empire has reason to believe that Jedi are involved somehow. They are, but we are very cognizent of what happened with Order 66, and Luke’s importance as the last of the Jedi.”

    -“George provided all these notes about what happened after the Clone Wars, and we’re designing the show with that in mind.”

    -Someone asked if any characters from The Clone Wars will appear on Rebels, but Pablo Hidalgo couldn’t answer that.

    -There will be a big focus on the Empire in the show alongside the heroes.

    -The heroes ship is called the Ghost for a very specific reason.

    -In a response to a question about if bounty hunters will be in Rebels, Pablo says “It’s not just black and white Rebels versus Empire.”

    -“Our heroes will find out that when they are more successful, they’ll have to fight bigger bosses.”

    -There will be deaths in the series, and the tone of the show will take a dark turn in the fourth episode.

    -George Lucas is not involved with story ideas for Rebels, and the show is being developed at a faster pace than Clone Wars due to their experience working on that show.

    [/blockquote]

    Lots of great stuff  was revealed about Rebels at this panel. Especially if you’re a huge fan of the Empire like myself! With a nice mix of new villains, vehicles, troopers, and classic vehicles and designs we know and love from the films, Star Wars Rebels is shaping up to not only be a great follow up to Clone Wars, but a great new chapter in the entire Star Wars saga. It’s gonna be a fun ride starting in 2014!

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    New Star Wars Rebels Villain Revealed! The Inquisitor

    October 12, 2013
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    The Star Wars Rebels panel at the New York Comic Con has just wrapped up, and StarWars.com has just released a great new video that was shown at the end of the panel, where Dave Filoni reveals the new villain for Star Wars Rebels, the Inquisitor!

    the-inquisitor-star-wars-rebels

    The Inquisitor will be new agent of the Empire sent by Darth Vader to hunt down the remaining Jedi. While not too much was revealed about this new villain, he does seem to resemble the Son from the Mortis arc from Clone Wars. Is there a connection? We’ll just have to wait and see! But check back here at the Rebels Podcast for a full recap of the Star Wars Rebels panel from New York Comic Con.

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    Clone Wars Has Wrapped Up Production. Bonus Content To Be Released In Early 2014

    October 11, 2013
    / News /
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    Star Wars television news keeps on breaking this week, as Dave Filoni has just announced on Facebook that production has wrapped on the remaining episodes of Clone Wars, and that we should start seeing them in early 2014. Here is what Dave said on his Facebook page:

    [blockquote cite=]Star Wars fans – I have some exciting news! We have wrapped production on all of the remaining Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes, and while that might be sad news in one way, it’s good news in another. It means you will finally get to see them. When, exactly, is a detail I cannot yet share. I can confirm that in early 2014 you will be watching the final episodes of The Clone Wars, including one of Master Yoda’s most challenging missions. So, get ready. We’ve got Clone Wars and Rebels coming at you in 2014. Animated Star Wars is alive and well. Trust in the Force my friends.
    – Dave[/blockquote]

    Still no announcement on how we’ll see the bonus content, but it’s great to finally have a time frame as to when we will be seeing the final episodes of Clone Wars. As Dave Filoni said, 2014 is going to be a great year for Star Wars animation!

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